I just wish to comment on the limited notion of intelligence gathering, i.e. spying, that is currently causing some grief to the Canberra milieu.

The grief is occasioned I believe by the fact that the true purposes of spying are being laid bare for the general public. Espionage fulfils several functions. There is the limited role of knowing the opposition's military secrets. As all sides are aware of the others plans this has limited utility as they effectively cancel each other out.

A second role is the gathering of sensitive personal information which then becomes the basis of inter-country blackmail. Not in the crude sense of demanding money in exchange for silence, but in having a tool that can be used to exert pressure on politicians, captains of industry, military personnel etc so that one's policy aims can be achieved.

The third is arguably the most important but the least discussed in the western media. It has a long and dishonourable history. To understand it fully one has to appreciate that most western intelligence agencies are in the service of capitalism, or more specifically, the profits of the 1 percent. Espionage is aimed at obtaining information that gives country A a distinct advantage in negotiating with country B. A classic recent example of this is the spying on Timor Leste during the negotiations over exploitation of the Timor Sea oil and gas fields. Australia bullied Timor Leste on behalf of Woodside Petroleum. The spying was ordered by Alexander Downer when Foreign Minister. He is now a consultant to Woodside. Thus we come full circle.

The embarrassment in Canberra derives from this becoming exposed to public light. We are not supposed to know how the world is really run.

Consider "confession" to a "church".

Some regular churchgoers are in litigation with the people they were encouraged to "confess" to.

The Orwellian vision was realised long ago. Current intrusive data collection is just as pernicious.

Rusty

"Anglosphere is a neologism which refers to a set of English speaking nations with a similar cultural heritage, based upon populations originating from the nations of the British isles: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and which today maintain close political and military cooperation."

Reg, given rise and rise of the U.S. and the demise of Britain as a world power it surely is no longer appropriate to use the term 'Anglosphere'.

Yankosphere is probably more correct given that our world is covered with American military bases and our skies and oceans are filled with American planes, drones and warships.